Surfers lend spirit to new brew, old-board contest

Scrawny surfing champs and brawny Hawaiian bruddahs are coming together in Santa Cruz this weekend for the annual Big Stick Surfing Association’s Logjam contest. But they won’t be competing for waves at the event, where surfers have to ride pre-1970 longboards without leashes (hence the motto “Old Boards, No Cords”).

Instead, Hawaii big-wave winners Keoni Watson and Micah Nickens and three-time longboard world champion Rusty Keaulana (“Russ K”) will be hanging with spectators at Pleasure Point and promoting, in their laid-back surfer-dude way, the revival of Hawaii’s 112-year-old beer brand, Primo. Along with Oahu DJ and comedian Lanai Tambura and official Primo “bombucha” (a big…personality) Spam, they’re participating in a weeklong tour of the California coast, including other surf events, to spread the news that Primo is back — and oh yeah, it tastes better this time.

Suck it up: Surf champion Keoni Watson had the tough job of aiding the new Primo’s brewmasters.

If you haven’t spent a lot of time in the islands, this may all sound like shameless marketing. But keep in mind that Primo is one of Hawaii’s top homegrown icons, and Keoni Watson and other renowned surfers from Hawaii and California (including Brad Gerlach) were directly involved in the development of the new brew.

“It was a lot of fun but it was a lot of pressure,” said Watson, calling from Hawaii. “The brand is held in such high regard by Hawaii — it’s Hawaii’s original beer. There’s such a lot of affection for the beer and for the logo; it embodies the waterman/ surfer lifestyle.”

But to be honest, the old Primo — which was made by several manufacturers before its demise a decade ago — was mostly popular because it was cheap and easy to drink a lot of under a hot sun. The new owner, Pabst Brewing, wanted to revive the label, but also market it on the mainland, where beer tastes have gone a little more gourmet over the years.

For Watson, that meant the new version “had to be something that said Hawaii, but was also accessible, meaning you could drink it if you fish all day or surf all day and then want to have some beers. It couldn’t be something that knocked you out. We definitely didn’t want it to be heavy to keep you from doing your activities all over the next morning. Everyone wants to get out there early to surf or to go fishing the next day.”

Primo “bombucha” Spam is part of the California Bruddahs Tour.

And more specifically, it had to pair with poke, the raw fish, sesame oil, soy sauce and ginger dish: “The beer’s got to go well with that or it’s not going to be a Hawaiian favorite,” Watson said.

To help out the brewmasters — Phil Markowski of Southampton Publick House and Bob Newman, two-time Brewer of the Year at the Great American Beer Festival — Watson said he bought a bunch of Mainland favorites for a tasting session with them. “I said, ‘This is what you’re going up against.’ “

The end result uses a “a little touch” of Maui cane sugar, while Kauai’s Keoki Brewing Company, known for a variety of specialty beers, was chosen to produce Primo in draft. Bottling, however, is done on the Mainland.

“The bottles aren’t coming from Hawaii, because there’s no facility here for doing it,” Watson explained, “but a lot of draft is coming from the islands. They looked into bottling but it just wasn’t going to create many jobs and wasn’t good for the environment.”

Speaking of the environment, a portion of Primo’s proceeds go to the Hawaii branches of the Surfrider Foundation. And in a tribute to the surfers who have supported the brand over the years, another portion goes to the Outrigger Duke Kahanamoku Foundation, which gives scholarships and grants to Hawaii’s young athletes. It was Duke, by the way, who brought surfing to Santa Cruz, among other sites around the world nearly a century ago.

Saturday night, April 25, the Primo Bruddahs will also visit Santa Cruz clubs Rock of the Sea, Corner Pocket, the Crow’s Nest and the appropriately Hawaiian-themed Hula’s Island Grill and Tiki Bar. After the big-stick Logjam — a benefit for the Santa Cruz Surfing Museum — wraps up on Sunday, April 26, the tour heads to Southern California’s best surf spots in Santa Barbara, Los Angeles, Orange and San Diego counties, where they’ll be joined by elite California surfers Brad Gerlach and Chris Malloy and a hard-to-miss customized “woody” surf bus. Click here for a detailed schedule.

One Bay Area place to taste the new beer — 21 or older only, of course — is Sundance Kitchen in San Francisco. Read the April 10 Hawaii Insider for more information.

Scott Soens

Rusty Keaulana will get on the bus (see below) to help tout surfer-advised Primo Beer.